How I Live Now (Blu-ray)

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All Rise...

How does Judge Alice Nelson live now? She's doing pretty good, thank you very much!

The Charge

"War is hell, peace is hell, love is hell—oh what the hell."

Facts of the Case

Daisy (Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely
Bones) is sent away by her father to spend the summer with her cousins in
the English countryside. Initially brooding and distant, Daisy slowly begins to
bond with her newly found family—especially cousin Eddie (George MacKay),
and the two fall in love. But their peaceful existence doesn't last. After a
terrorist's nuclear bomb hits England, the country is plunged into war, Marshall
Law is instituted, and the cousins are separated; the girls going to one camp
while Eddie and his younger brother Isaac (Tom Holland) are sent to another.
Before they're taken away however, Eddie and Daisy promise to return to the
farmhouse as soon as each can get away. After Daisy and her younger cousin Piper
(Harley Bird) manage to escape their captivity, the two fight through some
dangerous situations to get back home, where they hope to find Isaac and Eddie
waiting there for them.

The Evidence

How I Live Now is based on Meg Rosoff's 2004 novel of the same name.
This part teen angst, part love, and part war story is bolstered by the fabulous
performance of 20-year-old Saoirse (pronounced "seer-sha") Ronan, who, as Daisy,
commands the screen like a seasoned professional. Her portrayal of a troubled
girl who hears voices, pops anxiety pills, and believes that she is a curse that
killed her mother during childbirth is incredibly engrossing. We watch as Daisy
transforms into a pillar of strength who becomes a protector for Piper as they
make their way home again.

When Daisy first arrives, Eddie appears to be sullen and aloof, staring at
her as if he didn't want her there at all. In truth, he is one of the few people
who really understands his cousin. The penetrating gaze is his way of seeing
inside her, it's as if they have some kind of mental connection, because Eddie
can hear the troubled thoughts going on inside Daisy's head. Although Eddie is
Daisy's first cousin (her mother and his mother are sisters), the film deftly
handles this forbidden love in a way that neither condemns nor condones the
relationship. Putting aside your personal feelings about first cousins in a love
relationship, these two aren't sure if they'll live another day, so when the
dust settles and Daisy sees that Eddie understands her like no other human being
on the planet, you can't blame them for turning to each other for comfort.
Probably under less life-threatening circumstances, they may have thought better
of entering into such a controversial relationship.

Thanks to Rosoff's novel and Kevin Macdonald's direction, there is a quiet
beauty to How I Live Now that overcomes the invasion by an unseen enemy.
It starts with the beautiful farmland the cousins live on, and the bond that
manifests itself even before the war. Daisy's Aunt Penn (Anna Chancellor, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy) is rarely around, even before the attack. She has a job that
requires her to travel quite a bit, recently spending most of her time working
in Oslo trying to stop any impending attack. This leaves Eddie, Isaac, and Piper
to care for each other in her absence, and once Daisy arrives she and Eddie
become pseudo parents to Isaac and Piper.

The performances of MacKay and Holland are solid; both young men bring a
warmth and a depth to their characters that feels very real. Isaac is a sweet
boy who lets all the insults Daisy hurls at him just roll off his back; he loves
her in spite of them. Eddie helps her let go of a past that includes a
disinterested father and guilt she can't shake.

The performance I love second only to Ronan's is that by young Harley Bird,
who plays the bubbly and always positive Piper. Her role brings levity to a very
serious film that could've been a downer without her. My favorite scene is the
one where Piper wants to show Daisy her unicorn. Aww…how sweet, she wants
to show her big cousin her favorite stuffed animal. But Piper is a unique girl,
and no stuffed unicorn will do when a real one is right under her nose. As she
shows Daisy to her room, this unicorn meanders into the house, and what we see
is a goat with a cone shaped object attached to its head. It's a very funny
scene that shows Piper has not lost the traits of a sweet and happy little girl
with a vivid imagination, even though she lacks the constant presence of a mom
and a dad, not to mention the fact that she gets caught up in the middle of a
war.

How I Live Now (Blu-ray) is brought to us in a crisp and clean
1.85:1/1080p presentation. Pre-war, the colors are bright and vivid, but once
the country falls under a terrorist attack, Macdonald uses blue hues and darker
shading to differentiate between those two experiences. The DTS 5.1 Master Audio
highlights wonderfully written dialogue while at the same time showcases an
amazing musical soundtrack that includes great songs like "Do it with a
Rockstar" by Amanda Palmer and "Tam Lin" by Fairport Convention. Extras include
cast and crew interviews, some a little long winded and repetitive, the best
being the interview with author Meg Rosoff. Something I haven't seen before in
the special features is a picture in picture comparison of scenes being filmed
and the final results. But wait, there's more! A few deleted scenes, a Making of
Featurette, an AXS TV look at How I Live Now, plus the original
trailer.

Closing Statement

You may find it hard to believe that a movie where a nuclear bomb is dropped
and kids are put into prison-style camps can be a beautiful film going
experience. But How I Live Now is just that, a touching look at a rag-tag
group of cousins trying to live together as a family while the world around them
is falling apart.